Poor David Bowie. He didn't win a Grammy for his album The Next Day, and he didn't win a South Bank Sky Arts Award today either. That honour went to Arctic Monkeys and their fifth album AM, as Melvyn Bragg hosted the ceremony at London's Dorchester hotel in front of a crowd of luminaries from all sectors of the arts. This is the fourth time the event has been staged in association with Sky Arts, and it featured live performances by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dame Evelyn Glennie and Imelda May.
Comedians supplied a couple of the more eye-catching moments, with up-and-coming Bridget Christie taking the Comedy award for A Bic for Her, ahead of Alan Partidge: Alpha Papa and Sky Arts' own show Psychobitches. Meanwhile comedian Nick Helm took The Times Breakthrough Award, presented by Stephen Mangan.
The TV drama gong went to ITV's much-feted Broadchurch (which trounced the BBC's The Fall and Top of the Lake), prompting one of its stars, Olivia Colman, to declared that she was "ready to get on the booze" (Broadchurch cast and crew pictured above). The Classical award, presented by Evelyn Glennie, was scooped by the South Bank's (funny that) epic The Rest Is Noise season, while George Benjamin's Written on Skin at the Royal Opera nabbed the Opera accolade, presented by Danielle de Niese. The Mark Bruce Company's Dracula won in the Dance category, and - continuing the vampiric theme - Simon Russell Beale handed over the Theatre award to the National Theatre of Scotland for Let The Right One In.
The Film paperweight (presented by Ken Loach) went to Clio Barnard's The Selfish Giant, ahead of Philomena and Le Week-End, and Lady Antonia Fraser presented the Literature award to Kate Atkinson for Life After Life. That only leaves Visual Art - won by Katie Paterson - and the Outstanding Achievement Award, presented to Tracey Emin by Frank Skinner. "The shortlist demonstrated an extraordinary breadth and range of artistic disciplines, and the richly-deserving winners are all examples of the most exciting and unique talents at work in the UK today," enthused Lord Bragg.
- The South Bank Sky Arts Awards will be screened on Sky Arts 1 on Thursday 30 January at 9.30pm
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